The Conversion Bureau: Losing Grip on Humanity
by SamPD2
Summary: What does one do when your hands are reduced to nothing but useless stumps. Octavia was once among the most esteemed cellist in the human world... Then the Potion came, stuck or ingested, it turns it's target into loyal foot soldiers of Celestia's and Luna's empire. However, a rebellion leader, a Twilight Sparkle manages to reverse the mental effects. But how will she cope? Sh


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/_ Story: The Conversion Bureau: Losing Grip on Humanity / Chapter: Vinyl's Anguish / Author: ForlanceAbice_ /-

_Vinyl's Anguish November 8th 2012 9: 41 AM Conversion Bureau based story Octavia's Overture Forest Rain Remix War_ -

* * *

"I should have been there. I should have been by Octavia's side." Vinyl's bloodshot eyes looked down upon the magenta bowtie that was the personal trademark accessory of a certain cellist.

"This day was going to be perfect..." Vinyl muttered, reminiscing the events of the few last weeks past.

They, both Vinyl and Octavia were supposed to be happily together in an embrace... Only a few months before did Vinyl confessed her love for the human. It was a turbulent experience, but somehow they managed to get through it, despite the stigma surrounding both same sex relationships and inter-species romance. Though Octavia was surprised, she slowly did eventually warm up to Vinyl. The cellist was different than Vinyl's past "marefriends" in that they didn't stick around for long when there were better opportunities to be had with somepony else as soon as the chance came up. Though Octavia appeared to resemble the snobbish, uptight and arrogant Canterlottiane elite, deep down she was compassionate, generous and devoted individual to her friends, that is once you get past the cold hardened exterior.

"We bucked the beliefs of those who didn't accept us... There was no bucking humans or ponies out there to get in our way. And Octavia..." Vinyl felt tears starting to drip down her muzzle.

"She was an amazing marefriend... She actually took me in... She gave me nourishment, love and kindness. More than I ever would have expected from anypony, much less a human one..." Vinyl sniffed as she vividly recalled the day that Octavia had given Vinyl her first gift.

**_FLASH_**!

* * *

"Oh. My. Bucking. CELESTIA!"

Octavia simply smiled at the flabbergasted look on her now dear "marefriend's" face, her jaw hanging low on a comedic level, her red ruby eyes bulging wide open. She chuckled as Vinyl took her first few hesitant steps at what stood before her, completely dazzled by it standing right in front of the albino mare herself.

The object in question? It was one of those MP3 players that Vinyl had heard so much about ever since she first set hoof on Earth. The ability to store up to thousands of songs on such a small device was practically unheard of in Equestria. All they had was either the portable radios that had piss poor sound quality but easy to store, or they had to bring a large and bulky record player, though it gave a fantastic sound despite it's size, it was far too bulky to carry on one's person, due to being designed to fit in transports such as chariots, airships and trains. True, there were some forms of electronics in Equestria, otherwise Vinyl wouldn't have been making dubstep music. However, this was a relatively only a new development in Equestrian musical culture, coming into popularity within the past fifteen to twenty years.

For humans who utilize this technology for the past three decades, it was something that was usually taken for granted, what with even some of the primitive tribes in both Africa and South America coming to hold possession of them, even ones that appear to be remotely isolated.

To anypony, gryphon, zebra and what have you, they could only stand with jaw dropped amazement. (Or in Vinyl's case, drool over it.) For supposedly a flawed and violent species, nobody could deny both the genius and practicality of some of these human inventions. Even some of Equestria's brightest minds could only produce technology that paled in comparison to their human counterparts, (Assuming IF they had something to compare it with.) such as aircraft, The World Wide Web, well established cities, the never ceasing development of human science in general, and most frightening to the more xenophobic ponies, their devastating and horrifying weaponry.

All of this flew right over the DJ's head as she levitated the small electronic device in front of her eyes. She inspected every inch of it, from the screen itself, to the buttons that were plastered over it, ready and waiting for their owner's command and input. She turned her head to Octavia.

"Is this-?" Vinyl started, only for the cellist to lift a finger up to her muzzle to silence the unicorn.

"Yes Vinyl, this is my gift to yo- OOOMMMF!"

"THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHAN KYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU !"  
Vinyl fired off in rapid succession, crushing Octavia in a bear hug, who all the while could only barely able to bring oxygen to her lungs. Vinyl being ever oblivious, wore a grin that seemed unnaturally wide.

"Oh man Tavi, you don't how much this mean to mean, because this is like the awesomeist thing that anypony has ever given to me! I mean, I can't even start on how I could repay your generosity and-"

"Vinyl, that-*Cough*-nice and all, but could you loosen your grip dear? You're crushing me to death."  
Octavia wheezed.

"Oh! Uh, sorry Tavi!" Vinyl said pulling away. She suddenly found herself staring at her hooves in interest, all the while her cheeks flushed with embarrassment in a darkened magenta. Octavia could only chuckle as the mare she loved continued to shuffle. She rested her left hand on Vinyl's right shoulder, tipping her gaze back on Octavia's own.

"No need to apologize darling. But aren't you going to explore your first new steps into the world of electronics?" Octavia said with the MP3 player in hand, which the unicorn shortly seized with her magic.

"Ehehehe, yeah. Thanks Octy... Now. Let see what kinda cool radicalness this doohicky has to give me."

Pressing the power button with her magic, the screen blazed to life, chiming a greeting as the system started to boot up it's launch system, then shortly after going to the menu interface. Vinyl could only stare in bedazzlement as the machine absorbed all the albino's attention from anything else.

She couldn't wretch her eyes away as she tentatively tapped one of the icons that looked like a CD-disc, only to stop as she read something out of the left corner of her eye. "Phone..." Vinyl muttered in puzzlement. She looked to Octavia. "Wait, so you are telling me that this thing is also a phone?"

The musician only rolled her eyes with an exasperated sigh. "Sometimes you can be so dense Vinyl. If you haven't noticed Scratch, almost everyone either has a device similar to this to their ear, or they have their headphone plugged into it's audio jacket. Honestly Vinyl, it shouldn't be that hard to put two and two together." Octavia patronized. How she managed to get herself hooked up with the purple goggled DJ was beyond the cellist. One thing just simply lead to another.

The DJ-PON3 blinked, then in a gasp of realization, her mouth opened up in an "Oooooh, I knew that." expression. The unicorn let out a flashed chuckle halfheartedly, rubbing the back of her head with her left forehoof in awkward tension. "Yeah... So... Could you uh, help me get this thing working?"

Octavia's smile returned. Though Vinyl wasn't of the same species, and could be a little thick in the head at times, the unicorn was both outgoing and jubilant, with a spirited personality to boot to compensate. Besides, Vinyl was her marefriend, and Octavia wouldn't have wished for anyone and anything else in the world. "Of course you silly pony. I don't know how you would be able to manage anything else otherwise."

"Oh ha, ha, ha. I am a complete nutjob, I can handle this no prob."

"I wouldn't be so sure Vinyl. For a lady whose involved in electronics, you seem to have a slow time picking things up."

"Oh shut up just up Octy. Let's just get started so I can hear witness to my kickass wubs!"

"Charmed as always. Right, we shall sally forth."

And with that, Octavia took Vinyl step by step on managing the smartphone to her advantage, using what knowledge that she had to teach Vinyl to utilize the small electronic device to it's fullest ability, including it's other accessories, battery life, system updates, surfing and protecting against fraud. By the time they were done, it was nearly midnight. Octavia was already asleep, with Vinyl snuggled in right next to her, still awake. The DJ gazed fondly at the cellist, slowly stroking Octavia's hair as to not to wake her girlfriend up. "Staying awesome as always Octy, even when you are asleep. This will show ponies that we can..." Vinyl's smile vanished as her memory flashed back to an incident a week before.

"PER..." She grimaced, the acronym even tasted disgusting as the word flowed off her tongue.

**_FLASH_!**

* * *

"C'mon Ms. Octavia, being a pony isn't that bad! Even the newfoals agree with us! Haven't you seen how happy they are under Celestia's Sun and Luna's Moon? No more greed. No more corruption. No more evil. And the newfoals say that they are MUCH happier being ponies. Look at Maple Leaf here!" The pegasus stallion said, patting a light orange earth pony. Maple Leaf smiled on, as if the mare has just won the lottery. Something about the way she smiled made Octavia wary, staring back with a frown. The mare that was once a human women seemed too jubilant for only just talking with the human before her. It just didn't seem natural. At all.

"Its simply wonderful Star Sign! Never have I felt such happiness in my life! And Celestia's leadership hasn't steered me wrong so far. I mean, EVERYTHING feels fresher. Equestria is simply a paradise. I simply cannot imagine going back to life as a human. Octavia, you MUST join us! You will feel much better after you cast off the chains of humanity for the wisdom and kindness under our goddesses. All you have to do is drink the Potion, and all your worries will fade away as you cast off what hold away your happiness." Maple Leaf stated with excited fervor. The ponies surrounding them shouted various words of agreement. The cellist had different thoughts on the matter otherwise.

"Join us! You'll be happier this way!"

"The Princesses are wonderful rulers!"

"You spirit will become pure after becoming one of us, I promise!"

Octavia grimaced. Though the musician had seen her fair share of odd individuals, Vinyl included, the way that this group of recently ponified individuals were treating it made them look like God had personally gave them a pat on the back. Quite frankly, it unnerved the cellist to no end, what with them all droning on, even seemingly acting the same lines of some abstract protocol. They acted politely enough, more than tolerable even. But that was the problem. Octavia, as far as she could recall, didn't find an individual that she had spite for, the ponified giving them nothing but smiles. But it all seemed so... Robotic, programmed. And they were particularly insistent on convincing you to join their cause.

"While I do appreciate the offer, I need my hands to play the cello. Plus I am perfectly content with the life that I have now, so if you will kindly pardon, I need to get going." Octavia said, beginning to walk away, only for one of the newfoals intercept her path, eyes glowing with a cheery smile that looked like it was pasted to his muzzle.

"Now let's now be so hasty. Surely after you gave a pony life a try, you could potentially find it being happier after you become a pony. If you don't like it, then you can always go back to being human. Not that anypony has wanted to yet anyhow."

Octavia was starting to become more weary of their persistence as the PER ponies closed in on her, shouting phrases of "Praise Celestia!, Join the herd!, Become engulfed in friendship and love!" etc.

Suddenly, a white blur barreled through the crowd, knocking down ponies in it's path with reckless abandon. Standing in front of Octavia was an albino white mare with the hair of a blazing blue hue, who stood protectively in front of the cellist. She growled.

"Vinyl!"

"HEY! Back off from my marefriend you assholes! If she doesn't want to become a pony, then that's fine. You don't need to be jerks and push on her that being a pony is the awesomest thing in existence. Besides, she's a cellist, who I don't know, needs the uses of her hands to play her instrument?" She fired off, glaring at the crowd before them.

Maple Leaf stepped forward, smirking with amusement as a chuckle passed from her lips.

"You will learn to accept our teachings. Once that happens, you'll be none the wiser. Then you can truly live out your life to the fullest as an Equestrian." The earth pony said, coming closer with each step until she was in hoof's distance of the albino unicorn.

"Besides, who needs hands when we have magic? Very clean, efficient and harmonious. Much better than the crude contraptions that humans use. You should know that, being an Equestrian native yourself." Maple Leaf stated with a righteous smirk. Vinyl simply stared daggers back in response.

If thoughts could kill, then the mare before her would have been turned to ashes. Then the ashes would have been reduced to the atomic, microscopic level.

"She is already fine playing the cello, thank you very much. Now get lost you bucking pricks!" Vinyl shouted, stomping the ground with a hoof.

The crowd backed off, though their smile stayed glued upward, almost as if like they were pleasant zombies. If they didn't have their distinguishing physical features, then its probable that you wouldn't be able to make heads or tails from one and the other. "One day, you will learn the error of your ways. When that happens, all the bad in the world will go away. Just you wait." And with that, they went on their merry way. After Vinyl and Octavia put themselves at a safe distance from what could only be called a cult, Vinyl finally left out a sigh of relief.

"Jeez, what is their major malfunction? I mean, you simply don't just go walking up to a random stranger and shove your beliefs down their throat. Those mules acted like jackasses. Sorry that they had to pester you of all people Tavi."  
Vinyl said, rubbing the back of her head with a hoof absentmindedly.

The cellist lifted a palm to her head, closing her eyes then sighing.

"Really Vinyl, it was no trouble at all. I'll just avoid them in the future."  
Vinyl stared back at Octavia with concern in her eyes, doubt shining through as the unicorn frowned.  
"Alright, if you say so Tavi. Now let's ditch this place and get outta here!" And with that, they continued on their route home, wearily keeping a 360 degree watch out for any other ponies that wished to preach to them about how great it was being a pony. Out of the corner of an alleyway however, an earth pony Royal Guard lieutenant and his entourage of soldiers looked intently at the the musicians with a scrutinizing eye. Lieutenant Air Cutter spat at the filthy concrete in disgust, eyes brimming with hatred as he looked down the departing duo.

"Bah. I don't know why these damned humans won't just convert on the spot and be done with it. Surely they can't be THAT blind when they see what life we can give them. Pfft, typical of these primates. Always arrogant, selfish and greedy. Nothing but a lousy lot of liars. And that human female has even turned one of our own against us, the bitch." He scowled, shifting a hoof into the ground. One of his privates, a pegasus by the name of Spring Coil stepped up.

"Lieutenant, pardon me for asking, but what did the humans ever did to you? I-" Spring stopped abruptly as his CO's glare was directed at him. The private suddenly found himself regretting opening his big fat muzzle as he shrank underneath the piercing gaze that was being directed at him.

"Go on. Please, grace us in your infinite wisdom Private Coil. We would like to know what you have to say."  
Spring gulped. If he didn't know what his superior thought of him before, the poor stallion now had a picture to foreshadow the events of near future.

"Well private? I'm waiting."

"Si-sir, with all do respect, they aren't all bad, at least they don't actively show others disrespect. The humans I have met seems to be just exactly like us, save for you know, having no magic and walking on two legs instead of four. I mean, they have minds just like our own, showing both good and e-evil. And considering what we're doing, I am not so-"

"**SMACK**!"

With a sudden burst of pain, Coil found himself being held in a vice grip against a wall. He could only whimper as he felt his throat being constricted by his superior.

"_Don't. Ever. Let. Me. Catch. You. Spewing. This. Shit._ You understand me? Besides, you'll soon come to realize why they must bend. More than a few have disrespected our Goddesses, they whom are the ultimate wise and supreme rulers of Equestria. Humans on the other hoof are nothing but filth out of the sewer. Their words are laced with poison and deceit. Don't let them do that." With a stomp of his hoof, the private was thrown roughly to the ground.

"... Since when did he become such a prude?" Coil mumbled.

**FLASH**!

* * *

"Brrrr." Vinyl scrunched her face in anger. What gave those ponies the right to pester them and other humans? IF they already have a good life ahead of them, they should just leave them alone!

"Bah. Octavia wasn't kidding when they acted like a cult. NOPONY is ever that happy. Only the newfoals... Well, as long as they don't try to force it on us, we'll be fine." With that, Vinyl turned in and let sleep overcome her. Little did she know, the worst was yet to come.

**_FLASH_**!

* * *

Vinyl started to openly sob as foul memories tainted her thoughts, the events of what happened yesterday still clear in her mind. "Its not fair! So what if humans had done some horrible things in the past? That doesn't mean they are all fucking evil! Why couldn't they get it past through their thick skulls that humans have actually done more than some good in the world? WHY DON'T THEY TAKE THEIR OWN FAUSTING ADVICE AND SHOVE IT UP THEIR FLANKHOLE!?" Vinyl shouted, slamming her hooves on the floor as she rested against the bed, looking down at the gray hooves that stood in front of her...

"Wait... Grey hooves?" Vinyl looked up, only to gasp in horror as she found an earth pony mare staring back at her with a smile, along with several guard ponies and newfoals. _"Oh Faust no!" _Vinyl's mind reeled.

"Hello Vinyl." The mare said in a sickeningly sweet voice, like that of cultured honey.

"Oh no..." Vinyl mumbled in horror. "Please Tavi! Please tell me this is all a nightmare! Y-you aren't a pony! You're aren't one of them!" Vinyl begged, eyes wide with tears.

"No Vinyl," Her heart went silent. The mare that claimed to be Octavia smirked as she stroked Vinyl's muzzle with her _hoof_.

"I am a new mare now love. To be honest, I regret not doing this sooner." She said seductively, playing havoc with Vinyl's mind, trying to process what she was hearing.

"And now, you too shall join us."

Vinyl screamed.


End file.
